Riccardo Zanellato studied singing with Arrigo Pola and specialised with Bonaldo Giaiotti. He also studied guitar and took his diploma in 1995 at the Conservatory of Adria. He won “Iris Adami Corradetti” Competition and “A. Belli” Competition of Spoleto, debuting in Gounod’s Faust.
In 1996 he gained the first prize at the “Operalia” Competition in Tokyo. From there he went on to capture audiences and critics worldwide, singing such operas as Norma, I Puritani, Lucia di Lammermoor, Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda, Don Carlo, Rigoletto, Otello, Macbeth, Simon Boccanegra, Aida, La bohème, Turandot, Il barbiere di Siviglia.
He appeared regularly in the most renowned Italian opera houses as Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Teatro Regio in Turin, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Teatro Regio in Parma, Arena di Verona, Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Teatro San Carlo in Naples. In 2003 he debuted at the Berlin Staatsoper in Macbeth (Banquo), in 2005 at the Opéra Bastille in Paris singing the role of Ludovico (Otello) and in 2006 at the Teatro alla Scala in Rigoletto (Sparafucile).
Among is performances it is worth mentioning Dom Sébastien by Donizetti at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Maria Stuarda at the Donizetti Festival in Bergamo, Anna Bolena at the Helsinki Opera, Attila and La battaglia di Legnano at the Teatro Regio in Parma, Simon Boccanegra (Fiesco) at the Teatro Bellini in Catania. He took part at the “Gala Verdi” with Domingo, Carreras, Raimondi, Nucci and Zubin Mehta conducting in Parma (2001).
He also sang Norma at the Teatro Regio in Turin and at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo; Aida at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Il trovatore at the Arena di Verona and at the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari; Assassinio nella cattedrale by Pizzetti at the Teatro Regio di Parma under the baton of Bruno Bartoletti; Tancredi at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste; Lucia di Lammermoor at the Sferisterio of Macerata; Le Roi de Lahore by Massenet, La Juive and La vedova scaltra by Wolf-Ferrari at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice; Nabucco at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and at the Savonlinna Festival.
He took part on a Japan tour with Teatro Bellini di Catania (Norma) and with Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo singing Anna Bolena (Enrico VIII). He recently sang in Rigoletto (Sparafucile) at the Teatro Regio in Torino, Le Nozze di Figaro at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia and Luisa Miller at the Gran Teatre de Liceu in Barcelona. He just sang the role of Ramphis in Aida at the Arena di Verona and Il Conte Rodolfo in La Sonnambula at the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari.
Forthcoming engagements include, Ifigenia in Tauride (Thoas) at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, I Puritani (Sir Giorgio) at the Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam, Aida (Ramphis) at the Bregenz Festival and at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari. At the Royal Albert Hall in London he will sing in Norma (Oroveso), at the Théâtre Municipal de Lausanne in Il Trovatore (Ferrando) and Rossini’s Otello (Elmiro). He will sing the role of Sparafucile in Rigoletto at the Opéra Royale de Wallonie in Liège, Colline in La bohème at the Gran Teatre de Liceu in Barcelona and Assur in Semiramide at the Vlaamse Oper in Antwerpen.